Cory Booker becomes New Jersey’s next U.S. Senator

Newark mayor Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has defeated former Bogota mayor Steve Lonegan (R-N.J.) in the New Jersey U.S. Senate race.

Chris Abeel, director of government affairs at The New Jersey Credit Union League, praised Booker’s victory.

“We’re very pleased with the outcome of yesterday’s special election. Senator-elect Booker has expressed his support for credit unions on numerous occasions, and we look forward to working with him to ensure New Jersey’s credit unions are able to continue to serve their more than one-million members,” he told Credit Union Times on Thursday.

The Credit Union Legislative Action Council, CUNA’s PAC, contributed the legal maximum amount of $5,000 to Booker’s campaign, according to a CUNA spokesperson.

“As Mayor of Newark, Cory Booker has been a strong supporter of credit unions,” said Trey Hawkins, CUNA vice president of political affairs. “We have every confidence that he will continue that support in the U.S. Senate.”

Booker won the seat occupied by the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) in a special election, which was held on Wednesday, Oct. 16.

The U.S. Congress passed a bill on the same day that ended the federal government shutdown. In the bill, Lautenberg’s widow, Bonnie Englebardt Lautenberg, received $174,000.

“Notwithstanding any other provision of this joint resolution, there is appropriated for payment to Bonnie Englebardt Lautenberg, widow of Frank R. Lautenberg, late a Senator from New Jersey, $174,000,” said the bill.

The Senate handbook reportedly requires that the next appropriations bill include an item “for a gratuity to be paid to the widow(er) or other next-of-kin, in the amount of one year’s compensation.”

Booker led Lonegan 52%-42% among likely voters with 12% undecided on Monday in a Monmouth University poll. Booker held a 13-point lead over Lonegan two weeks prior and a 16-point lead in the summer. With almost 100% of precincts reporting the election results, Booker’s margin of victory was 10.3%.

“This was obviously one of the most difficult races to poll since there is no precedent for New Jersey holding a statewide special election, let alone one on a Wednesday in October,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “Voter turnout was even smaller than the historically-low levels we had already anticipated, but the poll’s underlying vote history turnout model proved to be accurate.”